Academy Eye Associates

I have been seeing Dr. Stewart since 1994. It seems the one-​star reviews are for the office staff, not the doctor himself. I have never had a problem with this office. I love them. Dr. Stewart is a super optometrist, as good as any of the doctors at the Duke Eye Clinic. I feel a bit anonymous at the Duke Eye Clinic, truth be told, and also sometimes like a case study there being seen by several doctors. I have a congenital eye disease called Keratoconus. Before I moved here, no one could correctly diagnose it. It was Dr. Stewart who figured it out. I wear tri-​focals — glasses, prescription sunglasses and contact lenses. I am a difficult patient for even the most competent optometrist. Many times it takes several tries to get a good pair of contacts due to the issues with my eyes. Dr. Stewart is literally the only optometrist outside of the Duke Eye Clinic who can give me a decent prescription. I need new glasses every 8 – 12 months, so I see him fairly frequently. I have never had a problem with his office staff. Mary Jane, his optician, has been there for years and she is competent and efficient. The only caveat to this might be that they don’t have a large selection of frames in stock. However, I have found frame styles I like and Mary Jane has been able to order them for me. They are a little pricey, but I plan ahead throughout the year for these expenses, use a «Flex card» and have never had an issue. I trust Dr. Stewart, he is a walking encyclopedia of optometry knowledge and an honest man. In my opinion, in no way does he deserve only one star. There has been some turnover of the front desk staff, but Mary Jane has been there for years. If you have a complicated prescription (I have myopia, presbyopia, keratoconus, and other eye issues), Dr. Stewart is the best optometrist in private practice that I know of in the Triangle area. I highly recommend him.

The receptionist took a photocopy of my insurance card which stipulated where to send Vision claims, but somehow still sent it to the wrong address. I ended up getting billed in full and Blue Cross’ appeal process was of no help either. Obviously I failed to READ my insurance card to the receptionist and to point out to her that «the card says to send vision claims to THIS address». The office also has a policy that even if THEY goofed, once Jan 1^st rolls around, they will not re-​file any claim from the previous year (most ridiculous policy ever). All glasses here are wayyyyy overpriced anyway. Do yourself a favor and go elsewhere!

I went for an exam and that went fine, except the doctor would say he’s leaving the room and will be back in «30 seconds» and then I’d wait for 10 — 15 minutes before he returned. That happened twice during the appointment. But whatever, doctors can be busy, so I’m cool with that.
So then I got my prescription and two days later went to try to get new glasses at another eye care place, and discovered that my insurance was blocked by Academy Eye associates. Apparently they had told the insurance company that I was using my benefits on them — i.e. I was getting my glasses from them — even though I told them explicitly that I didn’t like their selection and that I was looking elsewhere. So I called them, and they were on vacation… for 10 days their office was closed. So I had to wait 10 days before I could get in touch with someone there, have them remove the block, so that I could get glasses.
In general, they just don’t seem to be too focused on the customer, based on this first impression.

My experience with Dr. Stewart at the eye associates has been frankly poor. After helping me with a mild eye infection, he scheduled me for follow up without asking. I was called a few months before me new appointment and asked that they call me the week prior as my schedule was unclear given graduation that week. Never received any calls, but did receive a call from a collection agency for an appointment no show. I wasn’t aware of signing anything or having been told anything about the policy.
A half dozen phone calls were completely unfruitful and were met with a secretary that made it clear to me that my concerns are not a high priority to her and who informed me «you should just pay».
This has been officially the worst experience I’ve ever had with a business. In my experience they’ve been extremely unreceptive to any attempts to contact them, but are happy to send your name to a collection agency.